Few facts are known about the life of Herodotus. He was born around 490 BC in Halicarnassus, on the south-west coast of Asia Minor.

He seems to have travelled widely throughout the Mediterranean world, including Egypt, Africa, the area around the Black Sea and throughout many Greek city-states, of both the mainland and the islands.

A sojourn in Athens is part of the traditional biography, and there he is said to have given public readings of his work and been friends with the playwright Sophocles. He is said also to have taken part in the founding of the colony of Thurii in Italy in 443 BC. He probably died at some time between 415 and 410 BC.

His reputation has varied greatly, but for the ancients and many moderns he well deserves the title (first given to him by Cicero) of 'the Father of History'.

A philosopher, soldier, and historian of ancient Greece, Xenophon (c.430–354 B.C.) was a disciple of Socrates; he and Plato are the only two students whose records survive of the philosopher's conversation, life, and teachings.

In the Anabasis and Hellenica, Xenophon reported on events of his own era; the former recounts his participation in a Persian civil war, and the latter provides an important account of the end and aftermath of the Peloponnesian War.